Books: The Best Fashion Photography

The Daily Beast.

You may not be able to afford a print, but a coffee table book is really just as good. The Golden Hour, a new book about the legendary photographer Herb Ritts, consists of many photographs—of Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and more—accompanied by personal essays from his friends. Writes Richard Gere in his introduction: “He was one of the very best photographers of his time. Uniquely and recognizably Herb, the images are tactile, inviting, and deceptively simple. They remain classic, popular, and exciting.”

(Left: Woman in the Sea, Hawaii, 1988). For your mother who laments the rise of Britneys and Lindsays, try Women Then: 1954-1969 (Phaidon, $60), a book of romantic photographs of Jackies and Audreys.



Bookworm Chic: Wearable Literature

You can’t judge a book by its cover—but you can wear a book for its cover. Skip actually having to read Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters To A Young Poet, and bring it to your holiday party instead. French designer Olympia Le-Tan has caused a sensation over first-edition book covers which she has repurposed as fabric clutches. Natalie Portman wore the Lolita Book Clutch (€1,097 [$1,450], OlympiaLeTan.com) to the recent premiere of Black Swan, and Clemence Poesy carried La Belle et la Bête to the London premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last month. For bookworm chic that won’t break the bank, Out of Print clothing offers a selection of T-shirts and sweatshirts that will rival your 8th grade reading list: from Farenheit 451 to Animal Farm. (Our personal favorite is the distressed Moby Dick sweatshirt, $38.00.)
If wearing titles on your sleeve isn’t really your thing, then deck the walls instead: a floating bookshelf that is, in itself, a stack of books, will make you look well-read—without attracting dust mites (Conceal Bookshelves $11-14, SeltzerStudios.com).